Societe Generale’s (SCGLF) Q2 2017 Earnings Call Notes

“our economists are reasonably positive on the next 12 to 18 months’ economic outlook. And may I say in particular, in Europe, you have seen the Q2 figures and provided that there is not any extraordinary event, I would say, the economy should carry on doing pretty well on the back of a high level of confidence with more clarity on the political side, et cetera.”

Philippe Heim – Group CFO

General outlook for Europe and Africa

“I have to mention that the economic environment remains broadly the same all across the board in the various places where we operate. We’re still benefiting from a strong momentum across the board in Central and Eastern Europe, with – let’s say, a solid GDP growth supported by strong domestic demand….And in Africa, we’re still – we still see a strong growth in the places where we operate in – and specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa with Congo and Ivory Coast and, again, in Cameron, while the situation is more mixed in North Africa.”

In sum

“So in a nutshell, the quarter was marked by lower activity, a wait and see attitude coming from investors and hence, we’re seeing our revenues down by 4.3%.”

Equity revenues up, Fixed income down

“So in equity, revenues, they’re up slightly by 3.3%, a strong performance of structured products, with highest revenue since first half of 2015, while, of course, with lower activity all the flow products businesses’ were affected. In fixed income, pretty much the same pattern. Revenues were down by 6.8%.”